Saturday, March 31, 2012

Good showing for Nelson as he looks to lock down the third base job — or at least earn the majority of the playing time — in his battle with Jordan Pacheco.

In the second, Nelson tripled home the game's first run against a tough left-hander in John Danks. Six innings later, Nelson would single home the game's second run against another veteran left-handers in Will Ohman. I'm sure Jim Tracy will be filing those two productive swings away for when he makes out the lineup card against Wandy Rodriguez in six days.

Dante Bichette Jr.

Alright, so he's not a Rockie — really, really, really wish he was — but how freakin' cool is it that the 19-year-old son of my favorite player growing up got an opportunity to play with the New York Yankees big club today?

It's awesome.

Oh, and nevermind the fact he hit not one, but two home runs in his two at-bats. One of them coming off a 10-year veteran in Brandon Lyon.

Ya know, I think the kid's gonna be all right.

Misses

The offense vs. John Danks

Danks limited a Rockies offense not including Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Todd Helton, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Giambi to one run on three hits over six innings. Obviously this wasn't the best possible lineup Jim Tracy can field, but guys the Rockies will count on to hit against lefties — Dexter Fowler, Eric Young Jr. and Ramon Hernandez — were in there and contributed zilch (0-for-9).

Got Their Work In

Rafael Betancourt

Betancourt hasn't been as sharp as you'd like this spring, and started off shaky today when Paul Konerko lined one towards Tyler Colvin. Hoping to make an impression defensively, Colvin elected to dive for the ball and of course missed it, resulting in the most exciting play in baseball — a Konerko stand up triple. Not a good start, but it turned into a great finish for Raffy because two strikeouts and a pop out later Konerko's pinch-runner was left standing at third.

Wil Nieves

Hat tip to Nieves. He homered in this one and has quietly had one a professional spring both at the plate and behind it. He makes for nice depth in case something were to happen to Ramon Hernandez.

Oh, yeah, and the score in case you're wondering

A very well pitched game results in a 3-1 win for the Rockies.

What's next

April!

And what better way to kick off April than with a matchup with the Cleveland Indians and Ubaldo Jimenez. Yes, the Rockies are scheduled to meet their former ace — though things are always subject to change in spring training — and they'll be countering with their new de facto ace, Jeremy Guthrie.

The action begins at 2:10 MT and 850 KOA will have the description.

More Rockies thoughts await you if you follow me on Twitter: @Townie813